Mad Season
by Brianna Summers
Summary: Team Rocket has taken over the Pokémon world. They've destroyed the entirety of Kanto. They've taken hold of everything Ash loves...except for the one thing he's forgotten and can still stand up for. -Pokéshipping-


**DISCLAIMER: I, Stormy, do NOT own Pokémon or any of the characters related to it! Nor do I own the Matchbox Twenty lyrics at the beginning of each part.**

**Hello people! I know it's been a while. Mainly because I've been working on this. It started out as a dumb little writer's-block side story, and quickly became the only one I've been writing the past two weeks. I'm going to try to keep this author's note short because I really like this and I want you to be able to read it XP**

**Just a couple quick notes: _Firstly;_ this is _very_ Pokéshipping, with maybe some others depending on who I decide to bring in here. Right now I have only the basic plot sketched out. _Secondly_; Misty is waaay OOC at some points, and so is Ash. I did my best, but you have to remember that they aren't ten anymore, they've been through hell (it'll be explained!), and Misty has some abandonment issues that I hope to explain at some point. _Thirdly_; the song lyrics at the beginning set the tone for the chapters but don't necessarily describe them._ Fourthly_; each part (there are four parts to a chapter) is told in a different point of view, and it switches between Ash and Misty.**

**So that wasn't really short, but forgive me, enjoy, and REVIEW!**

* * *

**Mad Season**

**Part One**

"_I will do without_

_The spaces in between_

_If you can tell me now_

_What it means to be..."_

I scratched – or made an attempt to scratch – at the collar of my stiff uniform. Arceus, did these people have no sense of comfort? Every seam on the thing itched like crazy, and it was far too tight in some very unfortunate places. I could barely move. For not the first time I wondered how the two thugs that had chased me and Pikachu for so long could stand wearing it every day.

Pikachu. Just the thought of my friend brought tears to my eyes. They no doubt had him locked up in some shock-proof crate, deep in the headquarters. For all I knew, my best friend was sitting on the desk of my worst enemy in some cramped aquarium, like just some room decoration.

I was still deep in thought as the van lurched to a stop. I shook my head and looked out the tinted window. The place we'd halted gave me the chills. Cold gray buildings, tall as mountains and very deserted, lined both sides of a narrow, empty street. A cracked sidewalk was littered with old bottles and papers, having not been cleaned in ages. A storm drain had clogged, and water filled the road half an inch.

"Where are we?" I asked, mainly to break the silence. It was eerie, the quiet over the place. Surely no one lived here. They'd have to be crazy. The lack of noise would drive anyone insane.

The harsh voice of the driver in the front seat responded slowly. "Cerulean City, Agent 5-22. We took the city four months ago." I winced at the number I'd been addressed as; it happened to be the same as my birthday. 5/22. May twenty-second.

I took in the surroundings again. Four months? It looked like the place hadn't been touched in four decades. It just had that...creepiness to it. Like it was long gone. A ghost town.

"Does anyone live here?"

"Only a foolish few who think they can get by."

A foolish few, huh? I remembered Cerulean, vaguely. I'd been there on my travels. And it seemed like I knew someone from Cerulean... very well. Someone I'd called a good friend. Who?

Briefly I went through my list. Brock was hiding out on Mount Moon, and he was from Pewter, anyway. May and Max were laying low back in their hometown with Drew. Dawn was... somewhere. She'd never told me where she'd gone. Gary was helping his grandfather secure valuable research, last I knew. Ritchie... I preferred not to talk about. Tracey was trying to help safeguard part of the Orange Islands. Iris and Cilan were somewhere in Unova, and I hadn't heard from them in months.

So who did I know from here?

"Agent 5-22, did you hear a word I said?"

I flinched. "No sir."

"I was reminding you of the Boss' orders. Survey the city. Take anything that might be of value, including Pokémon. And if you see anyone alive... You know what he told you."

I gulped. I did know. I knew very well. It was the reason there was a pistol attached to my belt.

"Go."

I opened the door very slowly and stepped out. As soon as I shut it, the van drove away.

For a few moments I just stood there. I pondered my options. I would do as told, take the meager pay, and try to find somewhere for the night. Or I could try to escape, flee the city, find Brock. Mount Moon is only just to the west of here.

One option secured my safety. It didn't, however, help my conscience.

The other meant certain death if I was caught.

I ducked into the doorway of an old apartment building, if only to make it seem like I was following orders. Just my indecision could get me killed. I'd never had to think about life and death this way before, not even when I'd, you know, saved the world. But I didn't have a choice now.

My head began to hurt. I turned the knob of the door to find it, surprisingly, unlocked. The inside of the building smelled like it hadn't been cleaned since before being deserted. The only furnishings in the tiny lobby were a worn front desk, a single threadbare couch, and a set of stairs that didn't look all that safe leading to the second floor. I took the stairs.

The structure was small overall, with four floors total. Each of the top three had two apartments. I didn't need to go through the entire thing; there was nothing in the entire place, I could already tell. I left the apartments and headed across the city.

I decided, while walking down an old road that seemed all too familiar, that I would try to flee. Pikachu was relatively safe; he was strong enough to be useful to our captors, and they wouldn't be stupid enough to hurt him because of me when they could use him against me. I hoped.

I slipped into a house on the left side of the street. I wasn't entirely sure why I was being so sneaky. I had to be the only living soul in the entire city. The house was big, but looked like a group of Spearow had attacked it. It was in shambles. Rather quickly I found an expensive-looking black backpack, and began to fill it with things from the pantry I could eat on the way to Mount Moon. I stuffed simple things in it, too- a pocket knife, a small flashlight, even a sleeping bag I found. They were so easy to locate. I'd been trained for this. Unwillingly, but I had been. It had been part of the trade-off; I became a uniformed thug for my captors, they left my mother alone. Was I putting her in danger? Probably. My thoughts raced a mile a minute. No, they wouldn't do anything. They could manipulate me with her just like they would with Pikachu. I would take off to Mount Moon, capture some Pokémon, and train them hard until we could-

_Crash_. I knocked a lamp over and it fell through a wall, shattering the light bulb. Something glimmered from within the hole it had made.

I kicked the fallen lamp aside, sweeping broken glass with it, and tore back the drywall from the hole. I gasped at the sight of what was in the secret space. An entire shelf of small, red-and-white spheres, glistening as if they'd just been polished. I shuddered as I realized that these were probably the pokéballs of someone's beloved friends and battle partners, left behind as their master had been dragged out of his or her home. The hidden closet had been a security tool to make sure no thief could find them. I couldn't leave them behind, even if I was technically stealing them, being the thief. I would take care of them. They wouldn't fall into the hands of my – and their master's – captors. I'd make sure of it.

Quickly I swept them into the front pocket of my backpack, zipping it up. Then I noticed something – one of them had rolled off of its stand, and now rested in a bottom corner of the closet. As I picked it up, something just... I don't know how to describe it. Something in my heart just clicked, like there was something very special about the dormant creature inside. I tucked this one into a secret pocket on the inside of my uniform and left the house. Before I stepped outside, though, I had an idea. I dug a piece of paper and a pen out of a drawer, and left a note on the shelf.

_They're all safe. Safe and sound. I promise. I'll take care of them. -Ash_

I couldn't tell you why I did it, but I did. It made me feel good. And it fed my hope that maybe someday, this would all end.

I headed back down the street. I didn't think I could handle entering another house. Just walking past the decimated Pokémon center made me sick.

And then I reached it. The Cerulean City gym. Once it had stood so proudly as the main attraction of its city. Now _proud_ certainly wasn't a word I'd use to describe it. Half of the old, huge wooden Dewgong sign lay on the ground on front of the door. All of the glass windows and doors had been boarded up, and it was impossible to see inside. The red and yellow dome roof hadn't been repainted, and the metal showed through most of it. The grass around the gym was long, brown, and dead.

Something compelled me to go inside. As I pushed aside the boards on the biggest of the front doors, I could feel my blood pounding through my veins like a herd of raging Tauros. As soon as I opened this, door, something big would happen. I just knew it in my gut. Slowly, carefully, I walked inside.

And nothing happened.

And yet, it was too quiet. Granted, the entire city was too quiet, but this was... suspense quiet. Cautiously I padded down the empty hallway. A shiver made its way down my spine as I realized I knew exactly where I was going – towards the battle arena. It had been six years, seven almost, since I'd last stepped foot in here to try to earn something.

The Cascade Badge. That's what I'd come to earn. Pikachu and I had been trying to earn a badge to get us into the Pokémon League. I'd wanted to be a Pokémon master. I scoffed. Such a big dream for a ten-year-old. Such unreachable goals. I knew that now. Of course, deep inside my heart, I still have this desire to be the very best. Like no one ever was. But it's all changed now. It's all changed because of-

"Stop right there."

I froze. So much for an empty hallway.

"Face me." I couldn't move. "I said, _face me_!"

Slowly I turned, shaking. The figure behind me was pointing a gun at me. Threatening my life. No matter how many times that had happened, it was still scary every time.

We stood there for a long while, studying each other. I couldn't tell anything about the figure. He had a long, dark brown trench coat covering him down to his boots, the hood leaving only the bottom half of his face to be seen. His hands were rough, holding the pistol steady, aiming, finger on the trigger. It would take nothing for him to shoot me, drag me out back, and leave me to rot. If he lived here, in this city, it wouldn't be even the slightest nip at his conscience. Not after what he'd surely seen.

The long while ended as he lowered the gun, eventually dropping it to the floor. It fell with a deafening clatter in the nervous silence. He lowered his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets, leaving the impression of a walking coat with boots. What happened next shocked me even more than his sudden appearance. He spoke.

"It's you."

It took me a moment, but I realized something I hadn't even considered. This wasn't a man out to kill me. It wasn't a man at all.

And I knew her.

I knew that voice. And I knew that small tuft of red hair sticking out from under the hood of the coat. And suddenly it occurred to me; this was the person I knew from Cerulean City. The gym leader who'd left me and my journey because of her sisters' selfishness. The traveling partner whom I'd come to call my best friend and had then forgotten about.

"Misty?"

I could see her shoulders quiver before she collapsed in a heap on the floor. The hood fell back from her face, revealing all of her fiery hair and her face, her tear-stained porcelain skin.

"I should have known." she whispered.

"What?" Stupid me, I had to go and ask for clarification.

"You. You turned against us."

And, without warning, she stood and ran off.

* * *

**Part Two**

"_You have been found out_

_I have been deceived_

_By the one that I need..."_

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Of course he would. Of course he would! All of that crap he'd been talking over the years, about making friends with Pokémon, and believing in them, and trusting them had all been a lie. All a ruse. All a cover to get us to see him as a good person, so when he finally turned himself over, we'd think, oh no, surely Team Rocket's not as bad as it seems? Surely those two fools trying so, so hard to catch Pikachu – it was all a misunderstanding! And where had Pikachu been, anyway? Probably stuffed in a pokéball, knowing that jerk.

_Calm down, Misty. You know it's not true. Ash wouldn't do that._

Or would he?

_How could you think of him like that?_

Oh, I don't know, because maybe I just saw him in the middle of the Cerulean Gym wearing a Team Rocket uniform? Or, I know, maybe it's his own personal Halloween! Maybe he's still a damn ten-year-old!

_He's sixteen now, same as you are. People change, Misty._

Exactly! People change! I'm glad I finally found out what a jerk he is. Pikachu, stuffed in a pokéball; I must be kidding myself, he must have turned Ash into temporary bacon and ditched him. At least the damn rat still has some sense, unlike me, still head over heels for a two-faced kid!

_Yes, unlike you. Ash's motives were never selfish. You know this. I'm sure there's a reason-_

Screw reason! And screw you, you stupid voice! Why am I talking to you, anyway, you never get me anywhere. Go away.

_No._

Why won't you leave me alone?

"Because you were my friend."

Startled by the sudden voice – besides the one in my head – I turned to see Ash standing behind me.

"What?"

"I'm not going to leave you alone because you were my best friend, Misty."

I gasped a little. Had I said that last part out loud?

"Was?" I sighed.

"Yeah. I was dumb, you know. Not to call you or write to you ever."

"And?"

"And... I was wondering... are we still best friends?"

I blew up. "Best friends? Are you kidding me? I haven't seen you in years, Ash Ketchum, and when I finally do it's because you've shown up unannounced in my destroyed home and, oh yeah, by the way, wearing the uniform of the team that destroyed it and killed my sisters? You turned against me, Ash. Against all of us. I should have known. I should have known! How could I have been so stupid as to think you would always be...so naïve? So innocent? So happy and pure?" I stopped and took a deep breath. "Yes, Ash, we were best friends once. But we aren't anymore. We haven't been since the day you stepped foot out of my life."

"Misty," he began. I wanted to shut him out, throw him out, shoot him, something, but I've always prided myself on being fair. And right now to be fair was to hear him out. "I'm sorry. I really, truly am. And I can't change the fact that we haven't talked. But I can still explain the stupid clothing." I turned my head away. I heard him grunting and when I looked back over, he was dressed now only in a black t-shirt, boxers, and socks, with the uniform in a pile beside him. "Better now?" I sighed a little in answer. "Because it is to me. Not much, though, after what they did to us."

"Us?" was all I could manage.

"They destroyed me, too, Misty."

It was all he said for a very long while. Neither of us spoke for what seemed to be ages. Finally he continued.

"I don't know what happened to Pikachu."

"He's not with you?" I asked, stupidly, of course, but I had to.

"I was hiding in Pallet with my mother when they decided to take over the town. I won't tell you exactly what happened, but by the end of it, Mom and I were tied up, with Pikachu and all of our Pokémon ready to be hurt or worse. I was pleading to let them go. I told them they could kill me if they'd just let Mom and the Pokémon go.

"But they didn't do that." he whimpered, his voice shaky. "They said the only trade they would make was my loyal service to them, with Pikachu and my other Pokémon held in their headquarters. Then they would let my mom stay at home, or wherever she chose to go." I looked into his face. He was crying. "I had to save them. It was their trade, or we all die. I couldn't let them do that. I couldn't let them kill my mom or Pikachu. I don't even know if any of them are alive, honestly. I'm sorry, Misty, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Soon both of us were clutching each other, crying for what we'd lost. Crying for the pain Team Rocket had caused us, and the pain we'd caused ourselves and each other. Soon it was just the two of us, friends again, connected by our shared past and connected by our losses. Soon it was just me and Ash, sitting on the floor of the Cerulean Gym, holding each other as if we were the only thing that could hold the other up.

I awoke to a loud _clang_ that startled me. I tried to sit upright, but I was held back by something. By some_one_. I almost screamed before I realized who that _one_ was.

It was Ash.

And we were, still, sitting on the floor of the Cerulean Gym, my destroyed home.

And the boy was still asleep, his arms wrapped around me.

I couldn't help but give a weak smile. It was just like him. He was still just like him.

No, damn it. He couldn't be. He'd had to have changed. Surely.

My heart was still racing a mile a minute when I registered that there'd been a noise that had woken me, and my smile evaporated. I shook my head, trying to clear it. My mind was fuzzy, my memory foggy. Gently I pulled away from Ash, half hoping that he'd stay asleep, half hoping he'd wake up.

He slumped over, and I rushed to grab him before his head hit the tile floor. Only now did he wake up.

"Ash?" I whispered.

"What is it...Misty?" he grumbled.

"Shh!" I hissed. "We have to be careful. Don't talk. Something's in the gym with us." Instantly his eyes widened, and I had a feeling he was now entirely awake.

There was another _clang_.

And I decided we had to run. I pulled Ash to his feet, snatched the white uniform off the ground, and bolted for the back door. Grabbing my emergency bag from where I'd stashed it in the bushes, I dashed – west – into the nearby woods, Ash close behind.

We were halfway to Mount Moon by the time my panic subsided and I figured it was safe to stop.

"What...was...that...for?" my companion asked between ragged breaths.

"We...we weren't...alone, Ash." I was breathing heavily, too. I had no idea how long we'd been running. Just time as a concept was irrelevant at this point. Night or day, noon or midnight, it meant nothing after our impromptu nap and spontaneous mad dash.

We sat again on the forest floor, just catching our breaths, for an incredible amount of time. Had weeks passed? They might as well have. It seemed to take eternity to hear another voice.

"Do you think we're safe?" he near-whispered.

"If I didn't," I answered, "We'd still be running."

"What time is it?"

"That's a very good question."

He went to press something on his wrist, but stopped. "I knew that was a good idea."

"What?"

"Ditching the Pokétch they gave me. It would have tracked us down."

"I've got mine." I suddenly realized, reaching into my emergency bag. In a side pocket rested my old yellow Pokétch, and I tapped the screen. "It's almost three in the morning."

"We should get some sleep." he suggested.

"I don't know that I could." I admitted.

"We have to try."

I sighed. "I guess you're right."

But the two of us just sat there, looking at each other. I could clearly see the exhaustion in his face, in his russet-colored eyes. I moved closer to him, until I was sitting cross-legged right beside him, and laid my head on his shoulder. He let out a slow, content breath and wrapped one arm around me, leaning in to me as well. We were holding each other up.

It seemed we would be doing a lot of that.

* * *

**Part Three**

"_Tell me why_

_You gotta be so cold_

_How'd you get so high,_

_While you're keeping me low..."_

The morning air was brisk and chilly, with a biting breeze reminding me that winter was almost here. It wouldn't be too long and we'd have to fight snowfall.

Not much had happened since three that morning. Mostly we'd just sat in our little spot in the woods, talking once in a while. I think sense was finally starting to get to me, though. Or maybe I was delirious. It's hard to tell. But finally, I stood up.

"What are you doing?" Misty whispered. I could read something in her eyes, and really, it could have been anything, but it seemed to me like she was begging me not to do anything.

"We can't just sit here forever." I snapped. She flinched. My voice was harder than I'd meant for it to be. "I mean... we'll starve. Or freeze. Or something."

"Or something." she repeated with a shiver. "Where do we go?"

"We can't go back to Cerulean. They'll be looking for me." I reminded her. "So we go to Mount Moon."

"Mount Moon?" she echoed. She acted like the idea was completely irrelevant. It seemed obvious to me. Mount Moon was where Brock was hiding. Then it struck me that perhaps she didn't know that.

"After they took Pewter City, Brock escaped with his siblings." I explained. "They're hiding out on Mount Moon." I still remembered, mostly, where he'd told me they were going. "North of Onix Peak." I recalled. "The small cave where he caught Zubat."

"Oh." Misty muttered. But she didn't move a muscle.

"Come on, Misty. We've got to go." I took hold of her arm and pulled, as gently as I could. She was on her feet, finally, but it didn't look like she was going to go anywhere. I grunted out of frustration and then, suddenly, had an idea. "I've got something for you, Misty." I attempted, giving her a shaky smile. "I need you to help me." Slowly, her eyes on me the entire time, I pulled one of the pokéballs out of my backpack. Gripping it tightly, like it truly meant something special – which I really can't say it didn't – I held it out to her.

"A pokéball." she stated.

"Yeah."

"What's inside?" She was showing some interest! My heart leaped, which was a funny feeling. My heart hadn't done much but hurt the past few months.

"I don't know," I admitted, "But it's special. I promised its owner that I'd take really good care of it." It wasn't a lie. I'd left the note, right? "I need you to help me keep it safe. That means with your life, Misty."

_With your life_. At the words, I could see something return to her eyes. Something like fire, which is ironic, because she's always been a water Pokémon trainer. Somewhere back in the unconscious depths of my mind, a thought appeared: she needed something to do with her life.

Until four months ago, she'd been the gym leader of Cerulean City. That had been her life until they'd taken the city. And then certainly she'd been in complete shock; losing everything is hard. I would know.

And now I'd shaken it all up, and she was beginning to realize she didn't have a goal anymore. She had nothing her life was worthy of. The thought that she might have been ready to give up chilled me. Since I'd walked into the gym, and even four months before that, she'd had nothing to live for, not even me.

Until I handed her that pokéball.

And then she was the old Misty again. It was that sudden. She snatched the sphere from me, stared at it for a minute, and then shoved it in her pocket before walking into the trees.

"Hey, wait a minute! Do you know where you're going?" I called.

"Yeah," she shot back, "Onix Peak. I've been hiking up here since I was little, Ash. And, unlike you, I'm not going to get lost."

A genuine grin now crossed my face. The old Misty was back.

We'd almost reached Onix Peak (or so Misty claimed) when the thought hit me. It was a little strange of a thought, and certainly the least of our worries, given our current predicament, but at that moment it really worried me.

"Misty," I mumbled as a branch scratched my bare shin for the thousandth time, "I just realized I'm walking in the middle of the woods, in autumn, in my underwear."

Even though she turned to glare at me, the corners of her mouth were twitching. "May I remind you that you're the one who took your pants off?" she asked in an even tone.

"No, you can't." I smirked. A scowl stained her face. "Besides, I took them off for you, remember?"

"Now is not the time for innuendos." she stated flatly.

"Just trying to lighten the mood." I muttered.

"Lighten the mood? How in _hell_ do you intend to do that? How can you be in a good mood at all?" she growled.

"It's a habit."

"Stop being so stupid."

"Stop being so _bitchy_."

"I've got a _right_ to be, Ash! You have _no_ solid reason."

"Oh, so being forced into slavery by Team Rocket so that my mother and most loyal friend of five years didn't have to _die_, battling my conscience every day, training against my will to _kill_ people isn't a good reason?"

"Everyone you love isn't _dead_!" she screamed, facing me. Tears brimmed in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Silence filled the air, so thick you could've cut it with a pocket knife.

"You're right, Misty. _Every_one I love isn't dead. But there's only one that I know for sure is alive. And you wanna know how I know?" I asked. My voice took on a dead-serious tone that I could tell scared her. A tear slipped down her pale cheek, and I wanted to wipe it away so badly.

"H-how?" she squeaked.

I looked her straight in the emerald eyes.

"Because she's standing right in front of me."

If I had thought the silence was thick before, now you'd need a machete to make a slice in it.

"Don't do this to me again, Ash." she whispered.

"Do what?" I retorted.

"Say that. Say you want to stay with me and then leave. You left me once. How do I know you won't do it again?" There was a desperation in her voice that pulled at my heart. I stepped closer to her and put my hands on her shoulders before taking one and lifting her chin up.

"Because I didn't do this last time, did I?"

Before she could respond, I bent my head and touched my lips to hers. I could feel her shiver before she returned the kiss. It took us a while to pull away.

"Ash?" she muttered quietly.

"Yes, Mist?"

"Promise me you won't leave me. Ever."

Once more I directed my eyes into hers, and I smiled, still holding her chin up.

"I promise, Mist. I will never leave you."

She smiled back.

I reached one arm down and took one of her tiny hands in mine. Smiling, we walked ever closer to Onix Peak.

We were steps away from the tall rock structure when the chill set in. It wasn't just the fact that it was the middle of fall that was getting to us; this was the weird feeling you get when you step into a graveyard at night. Like a spooky chill that sent shivers down my spine. It reminded me of Halloween, but not in the sense of candy-gathering. I remembered hearing all the stories of ghosts and haunted skeletons and Pokémon that steal bad children away, and I almost expected us to run into some when we turned towards the cave.

Instead, we saw a mass of boulders blocking the cave entrance. Misty gasped. The boulders moved.

"It's a Pokémon." she whispered hastily.

"Probably an Onix." I suggested.

"No time for jokes, Ketchum."

"I wasn't kidding."

And suddenly there was, in fact, an Onix towering over us. Misty ducked behind me, and I could feel her shiver as she gripped my shoulders. The beast was huge, gargantuan, there aren't many adjectives capable of describing it and even fewer to describe the fear I felt facing it. What I wouldn't give to be ten again, to be able to look the column of rock in the eye and not even flinch, to be so ignorant and so naïve as to think this Pokémon couldn't kill me if it wanted to. Because right about now it scared the everliving crap out of me.

The Onix let out a tyrannical roar that seemed to shake every tree in a five-mile radius. I swore I heard a rock slide start up somewhere on the other side of the mountain. Misty screamed as its head made an advancement towards us.

And then I heard a voice that probably – no, certainly – saved our lives.

"_Rocky, stop!"_

* * *

**Part Four**

"_Tell me how we're gonna make it last_

_You're ready to fly,_

_I'm ready to crash..._

_Don't go,_

_You don't know..."_

How Brock knew it was us, I'll never know. But I'm so thankful he knew. Otherwise Ash and I would have been dead, because that Onix of his would have crushed us.

"How are the cities?" he asked gravely just seconds after he'd saved us. No hello, no apology. I guess I should have expected it. Everyone's different now.

"They've taken them all." Ash muttered. "Kanto has fallen to Team Rocket."

"No. Even Pallet?" Ash nodded grimly. Brock sighed. We were all silent for a while. "Now I have two burning questions. One, Ash, I have to know – why are you traipsing Mount Moon in your boxers?"

"Because I took my pants off."

"Why?"

"For her." Ash responded, pointing a thumb at me. I blushed, my face turning very red. Brock raised an eyebrow.

"It's not what you think-" I attempted, but was interrupted.

"Which leads nicely into my next question. How on earth, after all these years, did you two acquire each other's company?"

"I, uh, was sent into Cerulean." Ash gulped. I winced. He looked at me, turning his head, as I was still standing more or less behind him. I nodded, and he launched into his tale of being captured and forced to serve Team Rocket. "She... didn't trust me." he mumbled. I could tell he was trying to word his story carefully and pretended like I wasn't paying much attention. "In the uniform, I mean. So I took it off."

"Thank goodness," I whispered, "you didn't have branded underwear." A blush crept onto his face. I giggled despite myself.

Suddenly the ground shook. I shouted and grabbed Ash again, and we both fell to the ground. The Onix that Brock had tamed was towering over us once again. Brock pulled at our arms, shouting; "Get in the cave! Something's coming!"

And we did. The three of us raced towards the cave's entrance, trying to keep our balance.. Eventually we made it, the Onix sealing the hole we'd just dove through in a matter of seconds. The three of us lay, breathless, on the stone floor, Ash with his arms tightly around me, which I admit I was grateful for. It was very dark.

"Forrest!" Brock's voice called out, "Where's the lantern?"

"We've got it back here." his brother responded.

"Turn it on, would you?"

Soon a flickering yellow light illuminated the cave. Our shadows made dancing spots of darkness on the walls. Brock's younger brother and three other small children, all his siblings, cowered in a corner, guarded by a wall of rock making a tiny sub-room. As I sat up, I noticed two others like it hollowed out in the opposite wall. Piles of supplies were stacked in one of them. One of the small children whined.

"Brock," I muttered breathlessly, "Where are the rest of them?" He grunted, understanding who I was talking about. He had nine siblings. Only four were here.

"I wish I knew," was his last thought on the subject. I didn't bring it up again. "Forrest, you remember Ash and Misty."

The boy nodded. "I bet they don't, though." he said, motioning towards the other three children.

"Tommy, Suzie, Tilly; these are my friends, Ash and Misty. They'll be...staying with us."

The littlest, who appeared to be maybe six, crawled over to Ash and I. "Hi." she squeaked. My heart melted. I've always loved children, and young Pokémon as well. Fondly I remembered my Togepi, whom I had mothered since the day it hatched. "I'm Tilly."

"I'm Misty." I said, returning the introduction. She smiled.

"I wonder what Rocky was trying to warn us about." Brock pondered suddenly. I shrugged.

"At least we're safe." Ash pointed out with a yawn.

"Did you just wake up?" Forrest asked him.

"We were awake all night." I explained. "We couldn't sleep at all."

"Then get some sleep." Brock told us. "We're safe here."

I looked towards Ash, and he looked back at me with a small smile. "I've got a sleeping bag; how about you?" he inquired. I nodded, glad that I'd put one into the emergency bag I'd grabbed when we'd fled the gym.

Not five minutes later we were fast asleep under Brock's careful eye and Rocky's guardian presence.

* * *

"_Misty! Misty, they've bombed the center!" came Daisy's voice._

"_They're destroying the city. What do we do?" Violet shrieked._

"_We've got to leave!" I demanded._

"_Where do we go?" Lily asked._

"_It doesn't matter where we go; just away from here!"_

_"All my Pokémon were at the center!"_

"_So were mine! Oh, Seel! _

"_What about Luverin? She was there, too!"_

_Abruptly the entire building trembled as if it had been hit with an earthquake. Screams pierced the air. Things fell. I ran. I made it safely upstairs and behind the stairwell before the door swung open, hitting its opposite wall with a deafening slam. More screaming. Gunshots. I cowered, shaking, trying desperately not to make a sound._

_A screech._

"_Misty!"_

_I turned to look as Daisy shouted my name._

_There was no one in the room._

_But there was something on the floor._

_Blood._

* * *

I bolted upright, shaking violently, gasping for breath. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I tried to recover from the nightmare of a memory I'd never, ever forget, simply from the horridness of it.

"Misty?"

I winced, still quivering, but slowly I turned to face the boy who'd spoken my name.

"Misty? Are you okay?"

It was all I could do to nod, even though I knew he wouldn't buy it. I tried so hard not to look at his face, so I wouldn't see the genuine concern in his honest brown eyes, but I couldn't not hear the true worry in his voice. I couldn't not feel his strong, warm arms wrap themselves gently around me, one hand stroking my hair.

"You'll be okay. Tell me what's wrong. Can you?"

I shook my head. I really couldn't. I wasn't sure I could formulate any type of sentence, probably not even a few words. But maybe I could manage one...

"D..." my voice cracked. I couldn't do it. "Dai..." Just one more syllable? "Daisy..."

And then I collapsed, a sobbing mess against his chest, my tears soaking his shadow-colored shirt. Why had I even tried? I should have known attempting to say her name would only get me like this. It had before, when I'd been trying to get along in the gym, when I'd see something that reminded me of her. I'd say her name, think of her, and fall just like this, alone on the cold tile floor, my tears only making the silence icier, the solitude more bitter.

There was only one difference now.

I had Ash.

And no matter what I had ever, ever thought, something told me that he was still the same caring, protective kid I'd pulled out of the river.

Slowly I blinked my eyes open. I moved to stretch, but something was holding me back. Turning my head, the only thing I could move, I managed to figure out that it was Ash's arms coiled around me. With a smile more joyful than I'd felt in a long time, I snuggled a little closer. The nightmarish memories of the night before seemed a thousand miles away now, so distant from the warmth and comfort, and – if I stretched it a little – love that I felt now.

I would have been perfectly content staying like that for a while (forever, maybe, my heart said) but I soon heard Brock moving around in another part of the cave and sighed. Not to mention that Ash, behind me, was beginning to stir. I looked up to see his chocolate eyes grinning down at me.

"Hey, Mist."

I couldn't help but giggle. His groggy voice was so cute.

"I trust you two had an okay nap?"

We whipped our heads towards the voice. It was Brock, a rather gleeful look on his squint-eyed face. I wondered about his comment for only a moment before realizing the position we were in.

Ash was sitting with his back against the cave wall, holding me. I, in turn, was sitting on his lap, nestled quite close and both of us obviously not wanting to move a muscle, ridiculous grins plastered on our faces.

"Yeah," Ash answered him, "We did."

* * *

**I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the switching POV's and the dream sequence XD**

**The song used for this chapter is "Cold" by Matchbox Twenty, off of their _More Than You Think You Are_ album. I don't own it, but it is awesome.**

**Oh, and I'm going to be a bit of a spoiled brat and say that, for the next chapter to be uploaded, the previous MUST have five reviews. That means if you want an update, review, because the more you review, the quicker the next chapter will be up. Understood? **

**So leave me some reviews. And when you're done, go read Season 31 and review there. Because currently it has none, and that disappoints me.**

**This is Stormy, signing off!**


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